The Seasonals
by Wolfrunner99-2
Summary: One shots. Join the Guardians in a variety of different AUs and different prompts, from being spies to North and Tooth being parents. All rights to their rightful owners!
1. Water Part 1

Water was rushing around, adding little relief to the tropical air that hung heavy in the air. The spies hiked through the rain forest, fighting away bugs bigger than they're hands. They were lucky that it showed no signs of raining out, the chances of them having to make a quick shelter were very dim.

"Bunny, what's our position?" Nickolas North asked. He was an older looking man, his hair completely white, but his eyes were still filled with wonder, despite what he had seen. He was also known to the children of the world as Santa Claus.

"We're five miles in, North. Now, shut it, there might be listening devices." Bunny, or E. Aster Bunnymund, as was his real name, snapped, hating the damp air on his fur. He was a great Pookan Warrior, the last of the Spring Tribe. There were others, but they were all in hiding. He was also known as the Easter Bunny to the children of the world.

"Why are we doing this again?" A young, woman asked. She flew above them, her insect-like wings a blur. She looked like she had been covered in feathers and given wings. She was the Tooth Fairy.

"Tooth, this is a rescue operation. Manny said we have a missing agent. We go after missing agent." North said, his booming Russian accent carrying.

"Who's the missing agent?" Sandy signed to them. Tooth repeated this to the group, long used to the Man of Sand not speaking the traditional way. Sandy was the Sandman, giving out dreams, and also sending his enemies to sleep on missions.

"Jack Frost." North said gravely. Jack Frost? He was young, barely in his teens. He had been in the organization since he was five, training to become a perfect weapon, one that would do whatever the obscure organization asked. Then the accident had happened, making him stick out like a sore thumb in a crowd. So they had sent him to be killed, but instead, his would be killers took him in. Manny had tried to make him part of a team, but he didn't play well with others.

"Can't the kid handle himself? Why doesn't he just freeze them?" Bunny asked, annoyed. He had been the leader of the team Manny had tried to assign Jack to, but the kid had taken one look at them and froze them before leaving them and completing the mission on his own. It had been a success, but Bunny still held a grudge, especially because the kid had been injured and refused to let his team help him. Manny had disbanded the team, putting them in different ones, but Jack was on his own.

"Manny said nightmare sand. Jack was overpowered and taken." Everyone was grim at that news. The person responsible for Jack's initial training was a shady figure known as Pitch Black, well know for his nightmare sand. No one but Jack and Sandy had ever seen him before. He was a deadly figure, responsible for the ending of the Spring Pookas.

"Why does he want the ankle bitah back, anyways? He tried ta have him killed!" Bunny said. Bunny had been the one to knock out Jack and take him to Manny in the first place, so he MIGHT have felt a little responsible for the kid.

"Manny does not know. Just told us to get him back." They went back to hiking in silence, they were all alert, waiting for an ambush to be sprung, or even a full on assault. They had two skirmishes that were dealt with quickly and quietly, finally getting to the compound that held their distant comrade. North gave some hand signals and they all got into position, breaking through the fence and around the guards easily.

They split up into pairs to search the place, Sandy and Tooth going up, North and Bunny going down. "So, why do ya think Pitch wants him?" Bunny asked as they crept down the corridors, killing the guards as they met them.

"Jack is powerful, no? One of the most powerful out there, more so than even Manny. Jack is Winter, winter is a power many wish to possess." North said, dispatching yet another room. They came across a door, bars over the small window. The peaked inside and sighed in relief. Jack was definitely in there, ice coating everything, dents in the walls, and a whole obstacle course of spirals and spears of ice in the surprisingly large room. They carefully opened the door, ducking the blast of ice that soured over their heads.

"Frost! Don't shoot, it's us!" Bunny said quietly. Jack must have heard him because no more ice came. They opened the door fully and gasped at the sight. Jack was chained to the wall, face bloodied, hoodie ripped, weaponless. But his mismatched eyes were defiant and strong, even though it looked like he had many broken bones ailing him.

"Hi. Fancy seeing you guys here." Jack said weakly, his words soft, but his tone was sarcastic. North set to work freeing him, breaking through the locks with his swords as though they were butter. Jack rubbed his wrists painfully, his arms being broken in many places. The boy stood, wavering slightly as he did.

"Tooth, Sandy, we got him, move out." Bunny whispered through the comm link. He heard two affirmatives, then they were going back through the compound, red lights shooting off halfway through, a keening alarm assaulting their eardrums. Despite being severely injured, Jack moved swiftly and quietly with them, only faltering when the tropical air hit them. The air stung his wounds, and the heat was stifling, but the sun was going down, bringing cooler air.

"It's going to storm." He warned them as clouds began forming over their heads. They all nodded and raced back to their escape vehicle, a.k.a. the sleigh. It was a state of the art plane, perfect for stealth missions and for getting to a place fast. On Christmas, it took the form of an actual sleigh, to keep up with the story of Santa.

Jack was slowly laid down on a seat, his wounds tended to with inhuman precision Bunny and Tooth. Sandy provided a numbing agent with his Sand, making Jack drowsy, but painless. "Thanks, I guess. Sorry about freezing you last time, Kangaroo." Jack said. Bunny reacted so fast no one saw it coming. He began to tickle Jack's side mercilessly. Even though he was numb, Jack could still feel it and began to weakly laugh, trying to shove the others away.

"Ya want ta take that back?" Bunny asked as he tickled.

"I take it back! I take it back! You're not a kangaroo!" Jack said, and he sighed in relief when Bunny stopped. Tooth glared at Bunny, but Bunny pretended not to notice.

"Now, why don't you tell us how ya managed ta get yerself caught by him. I know that yer perfectly fine with taking on full armies by yourself." Bunny gave him a pointed look.

"Yeah... last time, when I was with you, those people had planned for you guys, but not me. You guys would have been captured, and the mission would have failed, so I just took out the element..." Jack trailed off, still not answering Bunny's first question.

"Jack, the whole point of being on a TEAM is to work together." Bunny said, shaking his head. "Now, how did ya get caught?"

Jack looked around embarrassed. Whatever must have happened must have been either a really dumb move on his part, or he had been taken really easily. "Well, I fell down a hole." Jack said, refusing to look at them. "Well, not really a hole, but a shadow. Then I ended up in that god forsaken cell and Pitch tried to break me. He didn't want any information, he just... tortured me. He said he would get his weapon back, even if he had to start from scratch."

Jack's eyes began to shutter close, and everyone could see the panic in them as sleep began to take him. Sandy put a soothing hand on his head and gave him a reassuring look. There would be no more nightmares, not anytime soon, at least. Jack gave Bunny a look that clearly said "wake me up if I have a nightmare" and Bunny nodded in agreement. The kid deserved a restful sleep for once in a long time.

The rest of the ride went in silence, and they moved Jack onto one of the couches in North's base so the kid could sleep more comfortably. "Now what do we do?" Bunny whispered to his team. They all shrugged and stayed silent until the doors slammed open and Manny stepped into the room.

"Did you get him?" He asked, his strong, Brazilian voice carrying over to the group easily and making Jack turn over in his sleep. The group shushed him.

"Yes, sir, we got him. What exactly was he doing, anyways? Shouldn't he have been under adult supervision while he was off mission?" Bunny snapped, glaring at his boss expectantly.

"He was supposed to be. Unfortunately, he gave them the slip. He's trained to sneak through the shadows, out of the way, unnoticed. If he doesn't want to be found, you can't find him, unless, it seems, that person trying to find him is Pitch." Manny said, glaring at Jack's sleeping form. He pulled out what appeared to be a pair of cuffs, but they weren't connected. He handed one to Bunny, but kept the other one.

"Put it on." Manny ordered. Bunny glared, but did as ordered. He slid it on, jumping as it locked around his wrist tightly.

"What the Bloody HELL!" He shouted, waking up Jack. Manny swiftly slid the other cuff onto Jack's wrist, where it locked down on as well. He shouted and immediately tried to get it off of him.

"What the HELL is wrong with you, Manny?" The boy shouted. He shouted even more as the bracelet sent out an electric charge.

"Don't try to take it off. It won't come off, and you'll receive an electric shock. It also will knock you out if you go more than a mile away from Agent Bunny. Do you understand, Frost?" Manny said, his face an expressionless mask. Jack glared at him and picked up his staff, all traces of tiredness disappearing.

"Well, that's too bad, isn't it? I'm going to Antarctica to heal, so..." Jack flew through an open window and out into the cold of North's Arctic base. Not even two minutes later, Bunny felt his wrist being pulled by some kind of magnetic force, urging him to go into the cold.

"He's knocked out now, isn't he?" Bunny asked, looking at his boss. Manny nodded. "And I have to go get the ankle bitah, don't I?" Manny nodded again. Bunny groaned and opened a tunnel and dove into it. He let the cuff guide him to where the kid was. He exited the tunnel and almost got right back in because of the cold. He searched for the blue hoodie that the kid had been wearing, finding it to his left, out cold. He picked up Jack and carried him through the tunnel back to the base.

"So, why me?" Bunny asked, keeping Jack firmly in his arms as the child began to wake up.

"Because, you are his team leader and brother." Manny told him. Bunny scoffed at him.

"That team was disbanded," he reminded Manny.

"Says who? The Seasonals are the most powerful spirits in the world, more so than even I. When I made Jack with Mother Nature, we did not think that Jack would be so powerful. Jack is young and inexperienced in controlling his powers. When Mother Nature and I made you, we KNEW you would be powerful. You are the only one that might be able to keep him in line, without hurting him. Had we known Jack would be a beacon of power, we would have done this centuries ago. Pitch never would have gotten him." Manny explained patiently.

"Whoa whoa whoa, YOU and Mother made Jack? Then you just left him? That's basically just ASKING Pitch to take him." Bunny growled. Jack began to fully regain consciousness and struggled to sit up.

Bunny just tucked Jack's head under his chin, forcing the boy to stay still. "Knock it off, Frostbite." Bunny ordered. Jack froze, figuratively, of course. "So, what, are the Seasonals being reformed? Or what?" Manny didn't get to answer because shadows entered the room, surrounding them, black sand blocking out the lights. The only light in the room was Manny and Jack. Wait, Jack glowed? That wasn't right? Then Bunny realized that he was glowing as well. The light seemed to originate from the cuffs, magically enveloping them in light.

"Tut tut tut, Manny. You should know better than to take my things." Pitch said from the shadows. "But look! You got me another weapon! How kind of you! Why don't I just take them and I'll be on my way. You said that there were two more? Or at least, I would assume so, being the Seasons." Pitch was suddenly right next to Jack and Bunny, sand dancing on the edges of the light, seeming unable to get in.

"Leave them alone, Pitch. They have done nothing to you!" Manny said. The other agents finally fought through the darkness, illuminated by golden sand that was fast turning the other sand into gold as well.

"Oh, nothing, really? I believe that the Rabbit took my weapon, and I believe that my weapon ran away. I am SO disappointed in it." Pitch said, sneering at them as though Jack weren't there, as though he were an object.

"I am NOT A WEAPON!" Jack shouted, only to have his mouth covered by Bunny's paw.

"Jack, you aren't a weapon, but now is REALLY not the time." Bunny muttered in his ear. Jack glared at Pitch, making the shade smirk.

"Still defiant as ever. Do you remember, when I first found you? You were defiant then, but I broke you. I will do it again and again and again until you are so afraid to even BLINK without my permission. Then I'll make you break your own brother!" This guy was insane, obviously.

"Well, I think you have to figure out how to break me, first," said Jack, having successfully removed Bunny's paw from his mouth.

"Ah, yes. It was so much easier when you had no memory of any freedom. When you had nothing to fight for. But I managed it once, I will do it again." Pitch said.

"Got another three centuries set up for that?" Jack asked cockily. Pitch's smirk turned into a scowl, obviously displeased that Jack was not cowering in terror.

"Why you insolent brat! How DARE you defy me! You are nothing but a tool, a weapon to be used at my command. I will make sure that it is engraved into your mind by the time I am done with you!" Pitch said, attempting to take a step towards the brave child. He was stopped by a hard blow to the head, courtesy of a boomerang.

"Ya leave us alone. We've been through enough Hell without your help." Bunny snapped before creating a Tunnel beneath him and Jack, making them disappear, only a flower in their place.

"FIND THEM!" Pitch roared to his minions before fading back into the shadows. His minions disappeared, leaving it look as though nothing had happened.

"Manny! What are we going to do?" Tooth said.

"We must find the other Seasonals. They are Summer and Fall. Summer's name is Kat Heat. She should be in Africa. Fall's name is Amber Breeze. She should be in Europe. We need to find them before Pitch does." Manny said before disappearing in a flash of light.

"Tooth, you find Summer, I'll find Fall. Go! We must hurry. Sandy, fund Mother Nature, tell her what has happened. She should be somewhere in Asia. Go!" They nodded and took off to their respective destinations, flying as fast as they could, hoping that they wouldn't be too late.

Meanwhile, Bunny and Jack were already in Asia, at Mother Nature's home near the ocean. "Mother!" They called at her door, relieved when they heard footsteps by the door and it opening. Mother Nature stood there, looking worried.

"Jack! Baby! Are you alright?" She asked, hugging him tightly before looking him over. She froze when she saw the cuffs. "It's beginning, isn't it? Pitch is after the Seasonals." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. The nodded and she pulled out two more cuffs from her pocket. "Get these to the girls, understood? You must stick together! Now go, hurry! You know where they are!"

The two nodded and were sliding and racing to Africa to where Summer was resting in her favorite tree.

She fell out, only to be caught by Bunny and the cuff being slipped and locked down on her wrist. There was a fast explanation of what had happened, then they were off to Fall, who happened to be in Norway, talking to Thor and Loki, who had paused from their fighting to catch up with their old friend.

"Amber! We got a problem!" Jack said, being the one closest to her, he slipped the cuff on. "Hey Thor and Loki, hey Avengers!" (Sorry, I couldn't resist...) "Anyways... We have a problem." Jack then explained hurriedly what happened and they disappeared into a Tunnel, leaving a very confused and worried villain, a very confused and worried hero, and five just flabbergasted heroes behind.

"Where are we going?" Amber shouted as they slid down the tunnel. The earth seemed to close behind them as Bunny closed all Tunnels to the Warren.

"Home!" Bunny shouted back to her. They all gracefully landed in the Warren, looking around in awe.

"So, we can't leave without Bunny?" Jack asked as he fiddled with his cuff. He yelped as it once again shocked him, snatching his hand away and putting it in his mouth, trying to relieve the burn.

"Yes, Frostbite, deal with it." Bunny snapped, annoyed that Jack hadn't learned the first time that he shouldn't mess with the cuff.

"Oh, baby brother! What did Pitch do to you!?" Kat asked asked. She was Egyptian, tanned, and basically looked like she was about to go to a fashion shoot.

"DON'T call me that." Jack growled at his sister. Then he gave the censored version of what had happened. They demanded more detail, seeing all the blood on Jack. He looked down and realized he was still covered in his own blood. He was currently running on adrenaline, so he felt no pain from his many wounds.

"Oh my gods, I think that we should patch him up some!" Amber said, her crisp British accent crackling through the air like leaves in the fall.

"No! I'm fine!" Jack protested as he was suddenly picked up by Bunny.

"Uh, no yer not. even if ya were, we would still be doing this." Bunny said as he sat Jack in what looked like a medical room. He set all the broken bones back in place, cleaned the blood that he could without Jack taking off his hoodie, and got all the blood out of the kid's hair. Now all that was left was for the hoodie to go.

"No! This is all that I have!" Jack protested in a last ditch effort to stop his brother and sisters. They weren't having any of it an completely shredded the poor piece of clothing, leaving Jack bare chested, and the scars easily seen. They were the worst on his back, where it looked like someone had whipped him often. He even had a new set of lashing wounds, bleeding a little. There were also large bruises all over, especially over his chest and sides, making it obvious that he had been kicked.

"Jack! Why would you hide this from us?" Summer asked, her accent thick with horror. Jack refused to look at them, and it took them a moment to realize that the child was fighting back tears of shame.

"Jack! There isn't anything to be ashamed of!" Fall said, resisting the urge to hug him.

"You know, I was there for six months. Six. He would tell me that no one would ever come for me, that I wasn't worth the time, that I would always be hated because I killed people with my element, that I would be pushed away because I was cold." He paused, taking a shaky breath and looking at them with almost broken eyes. "He said that I was nothing but a weapon, that weapons obeyed their masters, or they would be disposed of." He looked down at his feet. "That's what happened the first time. I was taken as a baby by Pitch. My father was a spy, same as my mother. I've always been on my own, I don't need protection." Jack said, shrugging them off and hopping off of the table. He walked out, into the Eternal Spring.

He walked as far as he dared, definitely far enough for them not to hear him. "Is this what you wanted Manny? To force me to accept help? Is that why you sent me on a suicide mission? I have no time for others. Pitch may have been wrong about many things, but he was right when he said that I am hated and that I am cold. He was right when he said that Winter kills, that I am a weapon. But I belong to no one. I have been taking care of myself for three centuries, making sure that I kept all of those wounds cleaned, that I picked my fights carefully. Pitch thinks that he broke me once, but he can never."

He paused for a moment, searching his surroundings to make sure that he was still alone before continuing. "I can't keep everyone you throw at me protected. One of these days I'm going to slip up and then they'll be dead or in Pitch's grasp. You should have just let me stay there, and I could have kept Pitch busy for the next couple thousand years, but no, you had to send them in. You should know why I don't work with people. I hate to say it, but you made a dumb move.

The last time I worked with someone, I almost got her killed and I died instead. I was glad, that I died, I thought 'thank the gods, it's FINALLY OVER.' but then you brought me back and my life has been hell ever since. You just mess up peoples lives when you play this giant chess game with Pitch, but there is never an end, because you always find more pawns to put up. You always get more soldiers. Tell me, how long do you think it will take for them to realize that you are just as bad as Pitch? That you are the kind benevolent father that everyone thinks you are?"

Jack took to the air. "All that you care about is control. The others think that the cuffs are to make sure that we stay together, that we don't go after Pitch alone, but really, they are to control us. You have the lead cuff on Bunny because you already have him hopping through hoops for you, and he would never betray you, because he's a good little soldier. But if you take his loyalty, you have no power. You should know by now that you can't control the seasons. They come and they go as they please.

You should have realized that I could have left Pitch at anytime, but I stayed there to protect my family. Because as long as he was focused on me, he wouldn't go after me. They seem to think I'm some innocent child that can't do anything on my own. You haven't told them, have you? You haven't!" Jack let out a bitter laugh. "They think that I'm on your side.

But I'm not. I fight against people like you. I do what I do best, I disappear, until I feel like gracing the world with my presence. Even then you never see me. You see, I'm invisible. That's what makes me so good at my job. So stop messing up my life by putting more collateral in for me to try to protect, and for me to watch disappear before my eyes as I fail every time. Just like you did with my sister! Did she deserve to die? Did she? Because she did, because Pitch saw it as HER FAULT that his perfect little weapon was dead." Jack was breathing heavily now, and he turned in mid-air, shocked to see the others standing there, mouths hanging open.

"How much did you hear?" He asked quietly.

"All of it." Bunny said, voice grim.

"Do you see why I always seem to be annoying and arrogant around Manny? Because he is the reason EVERYTHING that has EVER meant ANYTHING to me is DEAD! He's the one who let slip where my parents lived around a mole in his organization. They were killed protecting me from Pitch. I had to do as Pitch said because he held my infant sister hostage. Then, he killed her after I became a spirit. Imagine his rage when he realized that I was a spirit." Jack gave a bitter laugh. "Then his joy when he realized that I had no memories. But I got them back. A tiny tooth fairy had heard about the Winter Spirit with no memories, and she brought them to me. I never saw her again, because I told her to never return there. So she wasn't killed because of me!"

Jack heaved air then stalked away from them. His wounds still needed tending to, but he didn't need their help. He cleaned them, not even wincing when the antiseptic burned his gashes. He wrapped his chest easily, far too used to doing it. He waved his staff at his hoodie and it mended and cleaned itself, just like it should. He wished he could fly off, away from this hell that he was in, but that STUPID cuff kept him from doing so. Jack looked around, grinning when he saw rubber gloves. He slid them on, managing to get the edge under the cuff, putting a barrier between the skin and metal. He pulled the other glove on and slowly but surely worked the glove off of his arm. He sighed in relief as it was finally off. He pulled off the gloves, smiling to himself.

Then he put his hand to his chest as it began to burn. Not actually burn, but it felt like it was. Damn Manny for putting in a fail safe. But he could deal with the pain. He slowly unclenched his hand, the shaking appendage slowly steadying as Jack put the pain in a box that he locked away in the corner of his mind. He carefully set the cuff on the table along with a note.

Jack left the and took to the air once more. He knew that Bunny had left a single tunnel open, so that he could go and get supplies if they needed it, but it only opened from the Warren's side. Jack flew out that Tunnel, into the night sky, glaring at the Moon, holding out his wrist defiantly. A moon beam landed on it, then traveled further up his arm. Jack clenched his teeth as the pain climbed up his arm, following the beam of light. Jack growled, getting the point. If he wanted to go against the Moon then he was going have to be willing to pay the price.

"Goodbye, Manny. I hope I don't see you for a while." Jack hissed before moving too quickly for the eye to comprehend. One second he was there, the next he was gone, the Wind taking him away to his destination that only the two knew about.

Jack arrived at the place in five minutes, even though it was continents away. He stepped through a glacier into his home. It was magicked so that only Jack could enter, unless it was Baby Tooth, of course. No one could get in. The ice kept the shadows away, and the Moon could not reach him here. No dreams came to him here, the walls too thick for the sand to get through, even if the magic didn't keep it out. He sighed in relief as he sat down, pulling out a sketch book. He sketched out the days events, along with a brief summary of what the last six months had happened. He then set to work painting the Seasons. He first drew Spring, new life. He drew flowers, green grass, blossoming trees, and Bunny sitting in the middle of it, painting an egg. Next he drew Summer, growth. He drew green grass, bright blue skies, and Kat dancing through a field. Then he drew Fall, age. He drew leaves falling, the colors changing flawlessly through each leaf. He drew Amber dressed up in a Halloween Costume, laughing as she carve Jack-o-Lanterns. Finally, he drew Winter, which most people thought of as death, but Jack saw it as renewal, rest. He drew a winter landscape, frost on the trees, then Jack himself, sitting on his staff, a half smirk on his face as he made snowflakes in his hands. He had made the picture blend smoothly from each season, making it look like they were all in the same place, but the weather changing as you looked at it.

Once he was done, he encased it in unmelting, clear ice and set it next to his other pictures. One was of the Moon, when Jack still thought it to be kind. The next was of Pitch, a reminder to stay away from the man, apparent by the cruel sneer on his face and the whip in his hand.

One was of Sandy, spreading his dreams, a wise look on his face. It was Jack's reminder that not everyone was bad. Then there was North, making a toy of ice, reminding Jack that he could create good with his work, not just death. Next was Tooth, a reminder to stay away for rear of her assaulting his mouth to see his teeth. Then there was Baby Tooth, a reminder of the reason he still fought at all, and that he needed to protect the innocence of the world.

Finally, it was a separate picture of Bunny, Amber, and Kat, reminding him that he did have a family, of sorts. They were each doing the thing they loved most, Bunny was painting, Amber was drawing, and Kat was sculpting. He smiled at them sadly, positioning the new picture behind them. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening a hidden cubby that revealed a picture of him and his sister. He kept that picture because it reminded him of the pain of failure. Behind that was a picture of him, but not him. The eyes were a glowing blue, face hard as ice, twisted in pure rage. He had only let that happen once, and it started a blizzard that left New England under six feet of snow on Easter Sunday, 1968.

He sketch that one to remind him to keep his emotions under lock and key, to not let people see beneath the mask he had perfected over centuries. He slammed the cubby closed and left the first room, not wanting to start a snowstorm in his own home. The ice formed into a new room as he needed it, then disappeared when he was done with it, except for the first room. He sank onto the snow bed, wondering how long it would be until they realized that he was gone. He let the pain out of its box, just to see if it had crept any farther, but luckily it had stopped moving once he entered his home, at the top of his shoulder. He didn't sleep, just laid there, thinking.

Meanwhile, back at the Warren, his siblings had found his note and the cuff. Bunny read the note out loud:

"DEAR AMBER, KAT, AND BUNNY,

SORRY, BUT I DON'T DO TEAMS. YOU'RE BETTER OFF WITHOUT ME ANYWAYS, DON'T TRY TO FIND ME. MY ADVICE IS TO STAY HERE WITH BUNNY, HIDE. YOU CAN SPREAD YOUR POWERS FROM HERE, AND BUNNY CAN SEND OUT HIS EGGS TO HIDE ON THEIR OWN ON EASTER. DON'T LET PITCH GET YOU, DON'T TRUST MANNY, AND DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME. I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF.

-JACK FROST"

"I can't believe that he left!" Amber said softly, looking close to tears.

"Bunny, how did he get the cuff off?" Kat asked, looking at Bunny.

"Rubber gloves. The gumby's a genius!" Bunny growled unhappily.

"Doesn't that contradict the gumby-thing?" Amber asked.

"Yeah, now how are we going to find him?" Bunny snapped impatiently.

"Didn't he say NOT to worry about him or try to find him?" Kat asked.

"Well, I'm not worried about him, I'm worried about what he's going through for taking off the cuff. And I want to find him so I can beat some sense into him!" Bunny said.

"Again, that contradicts each other. You want to make sure he is okay, but then you want to put him in pain?" Amber pointed out unhelpfully.

"Yes, Amber, I KNOW!" Bunny snapped, rubbing his forehead.

"Well, how did you guys find out where we were?" Kat asked.

"We just knew where to go. I-" Bunny cut himself off. Then he grinned. "Got him!" He opened a new tunnel, bringing his sisters with him. In no time at all they were outside of a glacier. Bunny shook his head in amazement. The kid had built his home in a glacier. He knocked loudly on the side, folding his arms impatiently.

Jack jumped as he heard a knocking sound. He cautiously got up and looked at the wall. He cursed himself for not realizing that they would be able to find him. He made the ice clear so he could see them. He opened a tiny hole so he could see them. "Yes...?" Jack said.

"Are ya goin' ta let us in or are ya goin' ta make us freeze out here?" Bunny asked, scowling at his youngest sibling.

Jack glared unhappily but allowed the magic to let them through. He resisted the urge to laugh as Bunny, who had been leaning against the wall, fell to the floor in a heap. The girls yelled in alarm as they saw half of Bunny disappear. Jack poked his head out and gestured them in. He winced visibly as the moonlight hit him, making the pain begin to travel up his arm again.

He quickly shot back into his home, closing the whole and making it impossible to see through the ice once more. He rubbed his chest where the pain had spread to, locking it away in the box with the rest of it. He turned to glare at his siblings.

"I told you not to come." Jack hissed at them, going to stand in front of his pictures in hopes of blocking them from view.

Bunny walked over and cuffed him on the back of the head. "Don't go off on yer own again, Frostbite." He growled standing tall over Jack. Being able to see over Jack, he saw the pictures. "Bloody hell, Frostbite! These are good. But why would you have a picture of Manny and Pitch if you hate them?" Bunny said, picking up the ones he was talking about.

"They're reminders. The Moon is to remind me that I was once innocent and naive as well, thinking that he actually cared. Pitch is to remember the cruelty and torture that I have gone through. Sandy's picture is to remind me that not all of them are after power, some are actually kind and wise. North's is to remind me that I don't just spread death. Tooth's is to remind me to run if I see her. Maybe a reminder to love my job, not hate it." He held up Baby Tooth. "She is a reminder that there is still innocence to protect in the world. Then one of each of you to remind me that there are still people who care about me in the world, that I still have family and that last one is how we are all connected to each other." Jack said. He sat down on the coach that formed next to him from nowhere.

Bunny saw a tiny crack in the ice and slowly opened the not quite closed cubby. It had a long crack in it, as though it got slammed a lot. He pulled out the two pictures in there and sat next to Jack. "And these two?" Bunny said holding them out. Jack held the picture of him and the girl gingerly, as though it were a precious, fragile treasure. He held the other one in anger.

"This one," holding up the girl, "is to remind me the pain of failure." His voice cracked at the end.

"That was your sister, wasn't it?" Bunny asked and Jack nodded. Amber and Kat gave each other broken looks. He had lost his sister?

"And this is to remind me not to let my anger consume me. It ruins peoples lives and buries them in snow." Jack showed them all the picture, and they gasped as they saw the horrible beauty to it.

"That's what ya looked like on..." Bunny trailed off.

"Yeah, it was the day I got my memories back." Jack said sadly before hiding the picture away from the world once more. "Now, what do you guys want? I TOLD-"

"We know what you told us lillebror. We don't care! We are family, we take care of each other." Amber said, reaching out to grab his shoulder in anger. He hissed as she touch him, jerking away as the pain burst out and completely destroyed the box that he had built for it. He held his arm close to his chest, curled up in agony.

"Don't touch him!" Kat shouted pushing Amber back gently. "Jack, what's wrong?"

"Whatever you do, DO NOT take off those bracelets!" Jack ground out through his teeth. Bunny pulled out Jack's cuff and handed it to him. Jack glared at it and was tempted to just throw it away, but he knew that if he did that they would just forcefully put it back on him. So he slid it on, wincing as it snapped shut, leaving no room between the skin and the metal for him to weasel out of this time. But the pain did go away, after the thing shocked him a couple times. He sighed as he was finally able to sit back up without wincing.

He looked at the others, who had looks of horror on their faces. "I told you not to trust him. He wants to control the seasons because we're the most powerful of all. We're more powerful than Mother, than Pitch, than Moon. So Manny keeps us under his thumb with lies and kind smiles and Pitch tries to break you down to build you back up in his image. Mother just wants to be our mother as far as I can tell, but you never know, because she's not done anything about it. You can't trust anyone, not really, in our line of work. No one but family. I trust you guys, because you guys can't survive without me, and I can't survive without you. Not really. Mother could handle one of our jobs, even all of our jobs if she needed to, but it would be weak. The seasons would be mild and boring, things working on a set clock." Jack let his head fall back, too tired with life to even care.

"How is it that you figured this all out?" Kat asked. Jack's eyes blinked closed for a minute, then snapped back open.

"I grew up. I learned to look deeper into the meaning of words, I learned to read expressions, body language, lips, and thousands of different languages. I know when I am being lied to, and I know when someone is giving me half truths." Bunny looked at him curiously, as though he were a puzzle that he was only just finding the pieces. "Stop the, Kangaroo." Jack said tiredly.

"What?" Bunny asked innocently. Jack didn't answer him. Bunny knew what he meant, so Jack was going to sleep.

He was woken up by shouting. LOUD shouting.

"YOU DESTROY EVERYTHING! I spend MONTHS making Summer perfect, then you come around, everything is just DEAD!"

"At least I make the world look pretty! All you do is kill flowers and give people heat stroke! I prepare the world for Winter!"

"Oh, Winter! What so good about Winter!? Everything is dead and cold and white! The only good thing about Winter is that is leads to Spring, which leads to SUMMER!" Jack flinched inwardly at her description of Winter. She was right, that describe him perfectly.

"How long have they been at it?" Jack asked Bunny quietly.

"Two hours. They only just started yelling." Jack was informed.

"What started it?"

"Amber said that the ice was pretty and that she was glad the Summer was almost over in the Northern Hemisphere." Ah, that would explain it.

"HOW WOULD YOU KNOW? YOU'VE NEVER BEEN TO VISIT JACK IN THE WINTER! IT'S BEAUTIFUL! Jack makes everything come to life!"

"So!? It's probably just like him. Cold, dead, and lonely. Just like it should be!" Jack actually HEARD Kat clamp her hand over her mouth. Bunny shot up off the couch, to tower over her.

"Never, ever say that again." He growled threateningly, glaring fiercely at his younger sister.

"No, Bunny, let her say what she wants! It was just getting to the part of how she goes on about how I probably deserved the torture that I went to and all that I am is death, and that's all I'll ever be." Jack said, his voice cold. "I mean, never having actually seen the thing for herself, she MUST be right. I mean, she must learn more staying in her element than I do when I actually leave mine to see what the other seasons are like, plus she's a couple centuries older, so she must have more experience in such things."

He opened his eyes, which were faintly glowing blue, a sure sign that he wasn't just angry, he was furious.

"Jack! I'm sorry! Wait, you go into Summer? But, you could get in trouble with my helpers!" Kat said.

"I wanted to make sure that I would actually know what I was talking about if I had to talk about what each seasons was like. It helps to know what you're arguing about." Jack said, brushing off the danger factor.

"I'm sorry, Jack. I didn't th-" Kat said.

"No, you did think. You just thought of a biased opinion that Winter must be the EXACT opposite of what you think Summer is." Jack snapped, his eyes no longer glowing, but two different shades of steel grey.

Kat looked at her feet. "You know, aren't I supposed to be the one telling YOU that, being older?" She asked jokingly.

"You may be older, but I am more experienced. Manny says I have little to no control of my powers, but they are actually my tell. They are directly tied to my emotions, like right now, we are snowed in because I just blasted a blizzard outside. If you want to sleep, then follow me." Jack said, walking into the hallway that had suddenly formed.


	2. Baby Jack Part 1

Prompt from Kura and Sakura! Family AU! Jack gets hit by a spell that turns him into a child (doesn't matter who says it). When the Guardians find out, they need to figure out how to cure Jack. What happens when Mother Nature tells them it's permanent? The solution? Have Tooth and North move into Burgess as it's newest residents and as the Bennett's newest neighbors.

The Guardians were fighting hard against some sort of minor goddess, who was intent on turning the entire world into her own personal romping grounds, especially the children. They dodged attacks and blows, wishing that she would STOP MOVING!

Jack was having the most trouble. It was hot outside, plus there was very little water in the air. He should have known something was off when she suddenly disappeared. He cursed himself when he found himself suddenly having a knife at his throat, forcing the others to stop their attack.

"Ah ah ah! Come any closer and he will spend the next two weeks healing from a cut neck!" The sorceress hissed. North stopped his slow advance towards them. He looked at Jack, and Jack refused to let any fear enter his eyes. He had healed from worse.

"How about you let me go and then we can get back to the fight like civilized people?" Jack suggested, knowing that it would only buy him a few seconds from the pain that would come in a moment.

"Tut tut tut, a mere CHILD doing an adult's job? I think you need to go back and learn more about why these fights should be left to the grown ups, little one." She sneered and Jack was suddenly encased in white hot light. The sorceress dumped him on the ground as his body convulsed painfully on the burning ground. White knives danced over his skin and the Guardians could only watch in horror as the sorceress got away and Jack's body shrunk, his clothes as well, thankfully. Soon, there was nothing but a child there, no more than four years old. Tooth cried out and gently picked up the crying babe, rocking him softly.

"Shush, little one. Mama's here." Tooth cooed, quieting down the baby.

"Jack!" North said, his voice quiet for once. He rushed over to the child who had become like a son to him. He stared down in Wonder as little blue eyes looked up at him from under dark lashes with such innocence that it blew him back a bit. Babies had the strongest belief in the world, yet it didn't normally affect them because it was unknowingly that they believed in them. The child had soft fuzzy hair that was pure white.

Bunny and Sandy crept over, surprised by the boost in belief that they received. Sandy hung his head at the thought that he had been unable to save the child he thought of as a nephew from this fate. Bunny did the same, upset that the tyke he thought of as a brother was now a baby.

"Come, ve must take him to Muzzer Nature, get our Jack back." North said, gently taking Jack in his arms. Jack didn't like that and began to fuss. North got the idea and handed him quickly back to Tooth. Jack smiled with little white baby teeth that shone bright. Bunny picked up his staff and carried it into the sleigh, knowing that Jack would be very upset if it wasn't taken with them. They climbed into the sleigh and rushed off to Mother Nature's home, hoping that she was there.

The ride lasted two hours, North not wanting to wake the now sleeping infant with a portal. Not once did Bunny complain about the sleigh, simply looking at Jack. Tooth was holding him tight, a motherly look of bliss on her face. She couldn't get over how CUTE Jack looked! She was almost sad when they landed and were greeted by Mother Nature.

"What happened!? Who did this?" She demanded as she saw her Winter Child as a baby! He could barely control his powers as it was, how was but a babe supposed to do it!? She looked at the magic and groaned in disappointment. She would be handling winter for a while. "No, don't tell me. It's permanent. You are just going to have to let him grow on his own. He should stop aging once he gets back to his own age, but until then, there is nothing I can do. Think of it this way," she said as she saw their broken expressions, "You are getting a second chance to take care of him when he needed it to make up for the three hundred years he was on his own!"

Jack was confused. He could remember everything, but it was muddled. He knew that Tooth was holding him, and it felt nice to be held. He remembered seeing the others, but they had seemed so big! Then North had tried to take him from Tooth, but he held him funnily and it wasn't comfortable, so Jack did the natural thing and began to fuss. Then he was back in Tooth's arms and he soon fell asleep. Now he was with Mother Nature, her telling them that the state he was in was permanent and that he would outgrow it. Wait, who was Tooth holding? Jack saw himself in a mirror and reached out a little hand to pat it. Tooth saw this and moved him closer so he could do so and cooed at him.

"That's you, Sweet Tooth!" Tooth said, confirming his suspicion. He looked up at her with watering eyes, his lip quivering slightly. She cooed and rocked him a little, making Jack sleepy once more. He nodded off again, Sandy sending him dreams of dolphins.

"So, where are ya going ta raise him?" Bunny asked, looking at his kid brother.

"Burgess. We will raise him in Burgess. It is his home." North said and Tooth nodded as they climbed into the sleigh and back to the Pole. Jack seemed to shiver at the cold, same as the rest of them, which just furthered their decision to move to Burgess. North cold run the Pole from there, with the help of Phil the Yeti, and Tooth could telepathically send messages to her fairies so everything was running smoothly. Tooth also just so happened to know a spell that would make the appear human for as long as they wanted.

They saw a Realtor as soon as they could and were ecstatic to find that they would be living next to the Bennett's! Jack was the same age as Sophie as well, so they could play together. They were moved in within the week, having fully bought the house all at once and everything.

Jack was happy to run around in the yard while the adults unpacked everything. Bunny had gone to Jaime and Sophie and explained what had happened, so they knew exactly who was moving in next to them. Jack was surprised by the tap on his shoulder and turned to see Jaime standing there, smiling. "Jamie! Jamie Jamie Jamie!" Jack shouted, giving his friend a hug. Jamie laughed and gave on back, happy to see his friend. Jamie had promised to watch Jack while the house was set up so nothing got destroyed in the process.

"Hey, I brought some crayons and paper, do you want to draw?" Jamie asked, holding them out. Jack nodded eagerly and they sat down at the freshly placed table to draw. Jamie drew a fierce some dragon while Jack drew a very detailed drawing of a flower that was growing next to them. Jamie was amazed when he saw it and grinned. Let's go show Mama, huh?"

Jack nodded and followed his friend inside, stopping in awe as he saw the place, now fully set up. "Mama!" Jack shouted, racing through the house. Tooth, looking human, appeared, a smile on her face. "Mama! Look, I dwew a picture wid Jamie!" Jack said, showing her the picture, she gasped and smiled at him. That is a very pretty flower, Sweet Tooth! How about you show Bunny and Daddy, hmm?" She said, shooing him off.

"Bunny! BUNNY!" Jack shouted, looking for his brother. Bunny also looked human, late teens, early twenties."Bunny, look, I dwew a picture!" Jack said as he handed him the drawing. Bunny smiled at him.

"Good Job, Jackie." They had all become used to Jack drawing good pictures by now, as well as the fact that his mind seemed to have hidden the last three hundred years from the child. Bunny handed back the picture and hugged him, leaving little Jack smiling from ear to ear. Jack ran from Bunny, tripping over his feet and hitting the ground hard.

"Owie!" Jack declared.

Bunny sighed and helped him up, checking him over for any injuries. The kid wasn't crying, so he assumed that he was fine. Jack shrugged him off and set off again to show Daddy his picture. Bunny shook his head and chuckled.

Three weeks after they moved in, it was time for Jack to start going to school. He would be starting Pre-School at a younger age than the others, but he would be in the same class as Sophie, so they didn't mind. It seemed as though the Wind herself was keeping Jack's power in check, for Jack still hadn't had an outburst. So there Jack was, first day of school, fearfully clutching Tooth's hand.

"Mama, I don't wanna go!" Jack said, eyes tearing up. Tooth sighed and bent down to his height.

"I know, baby, but you have to so you can learn! Don't you want to be as smart as Bunny?" Tooth said. Bunny had become Jack's idol, only after North. Jack thought about it for a moment and walked into the room. Tooth sighed in relief. She had gotten a job as a dentist and she had to get to work or she would be late. She sent a grateful look at Mother Nature, who had taken the job after the last one had been sent to a mental hospital, claiming that the kids were little devils!

Jack recognized Mother Nature when he saw her. "Auntie Sawa!" He yelled, carefully hanging his bag up on the hook with his name on it.

"No, sweetie. It's Miss Black here. I'm your teacher!" Jack clapped happily and went to go play with the blocks in the corner. Sophie entered the room and joined him as she saw what he was doing.

"Jack Jack Jack! Play wid me!" Sophie said as she picked up some blocks and began to build a big tower.

"No no, Sophie, big blocks on the bottom." Jack instructed, showing her his tower. His tower was taller than him, with the biggest block being used as a footstool to continue building. It was also completely stable and sturdy, standing tall whereas Sophie's was teetering back and forth. Sophie knocked her tower over and rebuilt it with the big blocks on the bottom.

They continued to build, minding their own business. That is until a couple of boys ran over and knocked over Sophie's tower. One of the blocks hit here and she began to cry. Jack rushed over quickly. "You okay, Soph?" Jack asked, examining her arm. There was a big bruise forming and Sophie could only shake her head.

"Owie, Jackie. Owie!" Sophie said and Jack nodded in understanding. Jack turned to the boys who were trying to push Jack's tower over, but it stay up.

"Hey! You. That wasn't vewy nice." Jack declared. The boys glared at him and looked at how small he was.

"Go away, baby. We're bigger than you so you have to listen to us!" The leader said, who was five.

"Who told you that?" Jack asked.

"My big brother. He's mean and makes fun of me." The boy said sadly. Jack felt like he knew how he felt.

"Well, my big brother can be mean too, sometimes, but I know that just because your bigger doesn't mean you're the boss. Bigger goes on the bottom so the tower can stand." Jack said, not sounding at all like a three year old. He pointed to the tower and the boys saw how the big blocks on the bottom were holding each other up. "Would you like to be friends?" The boys nodded.

"Okay, but first you have to say sorry to Sophie, because she's my friend, too." Jack said, pointing to the still crying Sophie.

The first boy went over and tapped on her shoulder. "Sorry, Sophie." The second boy did the same. Sophie stopped crying and smiled at him. She held out her hand and the boy pulled her up.

"It okay!" Sophie said cheerfully. "I'm Sophie!" She said, even though they already knew it.

"My name is Emmett." The first boy said.

"My name is Andrew." Said the second boy.

"I'm Jack." Jack said. They smiled and ran over to the blocks and began to build once again. Mother Nature watch them carefully. Those two boys had been the main reason that the teacher before had left. Jack had dealt with them in a matter of minutes! She discreetly called Tooth and told her what happened. Tooth was very happy with her son.

"Okay kids, circle up! Story time!" She called. All the kids eagerly gathered around her chair, excited for the story. Mother Nature pulled out the Ugly Duckling and began to read to them. All of the kids began to nod off, except for Jack. He was listening intently to the story, eyes narrowed in concentration. Mother Nature closed the book and smiled at him. "Are you not tired, Jack?" Mother Nature asked.

"No. Can I read a story?" Jack asked.

"Can you read?" Mother Nature asked.

"Yeah. Mama gave me a couple of books, and I could wead the words!" Jack said in an excited whisper. Mother Nature handed him a book. It was a little unfair, it was a chapter book with no pictures, but Jack happily opened it. "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of Number Four Private Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much." Jack continued to read the story of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Mother Nature found herself falling asleep to it. Jack looked up from the book and smiled, seeing everyone asleep.

"Looks like it is nap time." Jack said as he carefully closed the book and set it back where it had been before. Jack went to the closet and was happy to see tons of blankets piled in there for nap time. Jack then set to work giving everyone a blanket and carefully covering them so they wouldn't be cold. Jack grabbed one himself and curled up near the window, a little bit away from the others.

When Mother Nature woke up, she almost fell from her chair. Her head snapped up and she looked around the room in amazement. All the kids were still asleep, all of them covered with blankets and a few of them held stuffed toys to keep the bad dreams away. Jack was curled up with a dolphin, just like he would at home and he had a happy little dream playing over his head. She looked at the clock and gasped when she saw that it was almost noon! The morning class was almost over! (The classes only ran for half the day.)

Mother Nature set to cleaning up the room, but she couldn't bring herself to take down the towers the four had built, so she let them be. She was out of breath by the time the first parents came to pick up their children. She set to work waking the kids up when their parents got there. The only child left was Jack and Bunny was picking him up because Tooth had an appointment and North had to deal with an emergency at the Workshop.

Bunny refused to let her wake him up, instead carefully carrying him to the pickup truck he had bought for when he was posing as human. He buckled Jack into the car seat in the back and carefully pulled away from the school. He frequently glanced back to see if Jack was waking. He was about to turn the corner when they were suddenly hit from the side by a teen texting on their phone and not paying attention to the road in front of them. The truck hit a pole, and Bunny's airbag came out.

****Meanwhile, Tooth was on her way home when she got the call. Her sons had gotten into a car accident. She slammed on her brakes and did a highly illegal U-Turn to the hospital, hoping nothing was too bad.


	3. Sick Jack

Jack has a bad flu on Christmas eve and wants to deliver snow but Bunny keeps catching him and having to return him to bed before he can leave because the others are all out and busy. Brownie points for stubborn, sick jack and grumpy but caring Bunny! BRING ON THE FLUFF lol

Jack groaned as he flew over Pennsylvania. His head was aching terribly, and he was way too hot. He had a fever and he knew it. He set off for the pole, hoping to land in a snowbank and just sleep it off like he usually did. Jack allowed his body to go on autopilot and let the wind take him where she thought best. So he was completely surprised when he saw the workshop come into view, the bright colors like a neon sign against the great expanse of white.

"Wind, no! North's busy and I can handle it myself!" Jack protested, trying to fight against the Wind. He sneezed and fell into a coughing fit that gave the Wind enough time to shove him through a window and shut it before Jack could get back out again. He weakly pounded angrily on the window, cursing at the Wind for locking him in.

"Oi, Frostbite! What's with the racket, ya gallah?" Bunny snapped as he entered the room, blinking sleep from his eyes. He did a double take when he saw how Jack looked. His normally pale skin looked almost... HEALTHY. Something was wrong.

"Um, nothing, Kangaroo. Wind is just being a jerk." Jack said, glaring at the window. Bunny stormed over to the younger spirit angrily.

"I am NOT a KANGAROO!" He growled, one paw holding onto Jack's hoodie so he couldn't run. He nose sniffed and he smelled the fever coming off of Jack. He searched Jack's eyes with a TINY, MINUSCULE hint of worry. "Frostbite, do ya have a fevah?" He asked.

"No, Kangaroo, I don't have a fever!" Jack lied trying to back away from the other. Bunny kept a firm hold on Jack's hoodie and felt his forehead. It was WARM. It almost felt as though he were touching a mortal, not the ice teen.

"One, I am not a Kangaroo, and two, ya DO have a fevah." Bunny said as he forcefully dragged Jack through the pole, dodging around Yetis getting ready for the night. It WAS Christmas Eve, after all. Bunny had hoped to be able to sleep at the Pole that day, since a certain icy teen froze his Warren in a way of Christmas Greeting that morning. Jack had looked fine then.

"Bunny! Let go of me, you crazy Kangaroo!" Jack said as he weakly struggled against the Pooka.

"Not on yer nelly, Frost." Bunny said as he continued on his way. "Yer sick and everyone else is busy, so yer stayin' in bed." Bunny declared.

"No! I have to spread snow tonight!" Jack said, his protests growing stronger. Bunny gave an irritable sigh.

"No, yer not. The whole world does not have ta be white on Christmas." Bunny said grumpily.

"You're right, it doesn't, but Burgess-" Jack started to say.

"Ya gave Burgess a whole foot of snow yesterday, I don't think it's gonna melt." Bunny said as he finally found a clear space. He tapped his foot and shoved Jack a little harder than necessary into the tunnel. He smirked as he heard Jack yell in surprise before following after him.

Bunny raced past Jack, who was now laughing, beating him to his home. "Ya freeze anything, I will throw ya in the rivah." Bunny warned and Jack nodded as he landed a little unsteadily. Half the Warren was still frozen, thawing like clockwork.

"I told you I'm fine, Cottontail!" Jack sneezed and began to cough once more, the force of it bringing him to his knees. Bunny glared at him and helped him back up.

"Ya want ta lie ta me again there, Frostbite?" Bunny plucked the struggling teen off the ground by his hood, surprised to find he weighed next to nothing. He turned and hopped through his home to his little burrow that he had. He then dragged Jack through a series of tunnels to his room. All of the Guardians had a room at the Warren if they needed it, and Jack definitely needed his.

Bunny wished that he could have left the kid at the Pole, but North was more likely to yell at Jack than help him, being so stressed just hours before he left to deliver the presents. Tooth was having one long, constant panic attack that started at Halloween about all the kids losing their teeth and them being cavity filled and unflossed. Sandy was always spreading dreams, especially tonight where he would be making sure that the children dreamed of sugar plums dancing in there heads. So he was all that was left to take care of their youngest member, much to his disappointment.

"Alright, ya drongo. Yer stayin' here until yer not sick anymore, got it?" Bunny said as he set Jack on the nest that was made for him. Jack didn't answer and Bunny turned to see that he was already asleep, curled up around his staff like a child would hold a teddy bear. Bunny shook his head and set to work making some medicine to cure Jack's cold. Or was it a hot, since he was already cold?

He set the medicine by the bedside table, and sat in a chair, dozing off in the process. That is how Jack woke, head still aching and still overly hot, but his chest seemed to have less pressure and his nose wasn't itching so much. He quietly got up, stumbling a bit as he did, his balance messed up a bit. He made it halfway out the tunnel entrance before he was dragged back to the nest by a very annoyed Bunny.

"I said that yer stayin'. But since yer awake ya can take yer medicine." Bunny said as he forced Jack to sit down. Jack took one look at the stuff and flew to the ceiling, a good two feet above Bunny's ears. Bunny sighed and stood in front of the door so Jack couldn't fly out.

"No way am I taking that, Kangaroo!" Jack snapped angrily. Bunny glared at the stubborn teen and slowly set the medicine back on the table.

"Is that so, Frostbite?" Bunny said, a challenge to be accepted.

"It is!" Jack said. Challenge accepted. Bunny leapt up and snatched Jack's ankle, forcing him to go down as gravity took hold of Bunny. Jack struggled to kick his foot out to break free, but Bunny had an almost bruising hold on him. Bunny pulled him further down, snatching his staff out of weak hands. Jack hovered for a moment before falling to the ground in a heap, not very good at controlling his powers without his staff. Jack groaned and looked up at Bunny angrily.

"Take the medicine and I MIGHT give ya yer staff back." Bunny said, holding it high out of Jack's reach. Jack glared and shook his head. Bunny took a step back and twirled the now frostless staff in his paws as though he didn't have a care in the world. "If ya don't take the medicine by the count of three, I won't let you have it back for a week." Jack looked at him as though he didn't believe him.

"One." Jack jumped a bit, but stubbornly stayed were he was. "Two." Jack looked slightly worried now, but still refused to move. "Three."

"Fine!" Jack said before obediently taking the medicine, gagging at the taste. Then he held his hand out for his staff.

"Uh uh, Frostbite. I said that if ya hadn't taken it by the count of three ya wouldn't have it back for a week, and I said three." Before Jack could protest, Bunny opened a tunnel and sent the staff to a room that you could only get in through tunnel.

"But!" Jack protested.

"Now buts, Frost, now back in bed." Bunny said. Jack glared but climbed back into the nest, falling asleep almost instantly. Bunny hopped back to his chair and dozed off again, waking up every once in a while to drag Jack back to his nest, until the by finally stopped fighting him and stayed. He slept through the night without a sound, though he did have to tell himself that Sandy was messing with him when he heard sleigh bells ringing.

You could hear the shout of rage on the surface when Bunny saw that North had redecorated his home in Christmas style and left presents under a big pine tree that was decorated in silver and gold. Jack, hearing the yell and feeling perfectly fine, darted out to see who was attacking.

He began to laugh as he saw what was the problem, then gasped as he saw that Bunny's ears were covered by antler earmuffs. He was howling in laughter and it took Bunny a while to realize the reason. He knocked them off and glared at the teen before joining in his laughter.

"Alright, Frostbite. Knock it off or I'll make ya wait longer ta open yer presents." Bunny said. Jack stopped laughing instantly and stared at Bunny in shock.

"I've got presents!?" Jack asked.

"Yeah." Bunny said nodding. Jack hesitantly crept over to the tree and his eyes lit up with Joy as he saw a present with his name in it. He also gave a little chuckle as he saw that North had hung up stockings for both of them.

"Can I open it?" Jack asked, looking at Bunny. Bunny nodded and Jack tore open the paper, staring at the sketchbook and pencils that were revealed beneath it. "YES!" Jack shouted, hovering in the air unknowingly in Joy. Bunny laughed and ruffled the kids hair. Maybe taking care of the kid wasn't so bad after all.


	4. What if? Adult Jack Frost

Jack padded down from his home, looking out at the moon. He was thinking of the night that he had almost died, along with his sister, when he had forgotten to check the ice. He had managed to crawl out and go back home with his sister, but he had had hypothermia and was in critical condition for weeks. He had refused to allow Emma to go back on the ice, and he had refused to marry when his mother died, joining their father. He was the only one that Emma had left and he wouldn't leave her. That day on the ice had been six years ago and he had payed the price of his stupidity by earning a crescent scar on his forehead where his head struck the ice. Now he was now twenty, his sister was sixteen. He always found himself being drawn back to the ice when he was on his own, many times the ice cracking beneath him and nearly taking him again. So Emma had made him promise not to do it again.

He had had an argument with her. She wanted to say yes to a courting invitation to Eli Burgess, the son of the Founder, but Jack said no. Eli Burgess was a cruel aristocrat that only cared for pretty things. He was weak and he always smelled like horse. He was also very fat and twenty two years old. Jack told her that the only person he would EVER approve her of courting MIGHT be James Bennett. James Bennett was a fellow shepherd, caring and gentle to everyone. He was hard working, strong, knew how to hunt, and most importantly, was Emma's age.

Emma had thrown a fit about it and Jack was now taking a walk to cool off. Ever since he had fallen in, the cold hadn't affected him as much. He went down to the lake, staring at the frozen surface. The sudden urge to skate overtook him, making him smile. He hadn't skated in years, his sister always with him and terrified of the ice and the promise. But she wasn't with him now, and he was free to skate. He removed his shoes and stepped onto the ice, using his staff as support.

He skated around, freezing as he heard a sharp crack. The moon seemed to shine down on him brightly, too bright, breaking the ice and forcing him under. He struggled to get back up, but the ice seemed to have instantly frozen above him. He slowly began to lose the fight against the ice, his eyes closing as his brain shut down from the cold.

Up above, Manny looked calmly at the lake. His chosen one had escaped him once, he would not do so again. He felt the man's brain and heart beat begin to fade. Only then did he change the man into Jack Frost. He rose the man from the lake, almost in awe at his snowy white hair and bright blue eyes that seemed to shine in the darkness. The man collapsed to his knees and glared up at the moon.

"What hath thee done to me!? Is this what thine had planned for me the first time? Or any of the other times?" Jack shouted up to the moon. Manny frowned. The man must not have been as close to death as he thought. He still had his memories. But he was rude, so Manny planned to teach him a lesson. He sent a moon beam and marked the young man's face, making it obvious who had created him.

"Silence. Your name is Jack Frost. You are as you were meant to be. You are the Spirit of Winter. Go, do your job." Manny said.

Jack glared up at the Moon a tad bit longer, until he felt the Wind lift him high into the sky. "Whoa!" Jack said, laughing in delight. He stared down at his lake in wonder as he saw Ice and Frost dance around it to his will. Jack asked the Wind to put him down, and the Wind complied. Jack calmly walked over to a tree and tapped it with his staff. It lit up with frost ferns, causing the young man to laugh.

"Wind, take me to the village, please." Jack said. The Wind complied, taking him to the village. Jack smiled sadly when he saw his sister looking worriedly out the window. He touched it and frost began to creep up it. Emma jumped back in fright, and Jack realized that she couldn't see him. Jack sighed in disappointment and allowed the Wind to take him away, and for the next Three Hundred Years, he was on his own, fighting off other seasonals, spreading snow, and bringing Joy to the young children, getting them out of school, cheering them up, and basically just wondering why the Moon chose HIM to do this. He always kept close to Burgess in the Summer, watching over his sister's descendants. Once it had been declared that he was dead, Emma had married James Bennett, honoring his wishes, and the Bennetts still lived in the now large town.

He flew down, smiling. It was three days to Easter and he had given them a Snow Day, so they didn't have school until after Easter Break was over. Jack flew to Jamie, who was reading a mythology book. He had the Wind blow it out of his hand Jack looked at it. "That looks interesting. Good book?" Jamie picked it up and brushed it off. Jack smiled and followed the kid that was under Jack's protection. Actually, the whole town was, and every spirit in the world knew to stay away from it, especially his lake.

Bunny had found this out the hard way when he tried to thaw Jack's lake. Jack had stopped him before, but as payback, he started a blizzard on Easter Sunday, making the Rabbit lose belief. Bunny was still mad at him for it. Jack laughed as little Sophie fell, frowning a little when Jamie just rolled his eyes and called to their mother.

"Mom! Sophie fell again!"

"Hey Jamie! Are you going to the egg hunt on Sunday?" One boy asked. Jamie nodded with a smile.

"I hope we can find the eggs with all this SNOW!" The boy's twin said as he joined them.

"Hey! You guys! This says that they found Bigfoot hair samples, IN MICHIGAN! That's, like, super close!" Jamie shouted excitedly.

"You said that about the Easter Bunny, too!" One of the boys said.

"The Easter Bunny IS real." Jamie said, looking at them like they were dumb.

"Oh, he's real, alright. Real annoying and REALLY full of himself." Jack said as he walked along the edge of the fence leisurely.

"Jamie! Hat! Wouldn't want Jack Frost nipping at your nose!" Jamie's mother said.

"Who's Jack Frost?" Jamie asked.

"He's the Spirit of Winter and the Protector of Burgess, or at least that's the legend." She told him. "But I think he's just an expression." She tapped Jamie's nose and sent him on his way. Jack glared at her and rolled his eyes.

"Who's Jack Frost?" Jack said as he childishly balled up a snowball. He blew on it, a grin on his face. The ball glowed and it hit Jamie in the back of the head.

Jamie began to laugh and they began to play, even getting the scary girl by the name of Cupcake to play with them. Jack almost gave Jamie a sleigh ride, but saw all of the traffic and he didn't want to risk his ward getting hurt. As it was, the boy still ended up tripping over his own two feet and losing a tooth. Jack just sighed, glad he had been able to give the boy some happiness. His father had been a marine and had died fighting in some war across the ocean, near the equator.

Jack started a couple of flurries as he patrolled the town. He wanted a little snow on the ground, to remind the Bunny who this town belonged to. He smiled a little sadly as Sandy sent dreamsand over his town, giving them sweet dreams. "Right on time, Sandman." Jack said. He trailed his hand through one of the streams, laughing a bit as dolphins danced around him.

As the streams disappeared, he smiled and pulled down his hood that was almost always up. He quickly tugged it back up when he heard the bang of a trashcan tumbling to the ground. Jack flew to a tree branch and looked around worriedly. He saw a blur and he followed the sound of car alarms, cursing himself when he found himself surrounded by walls. He had basically trapped himself! He held his staff defensively and turned a slow circle, listening for any noise. The noise came from behind him and Jack quickly turned there. He relaxed slightly in his stance as he saw that it was simply the annoying Easter Bunny.

"Hello, mate. Been a long time. Blizzard of '68 I believe." Jack just chuckled.

"I see you every year, Bunny. This IS my town, after all." Jack said, smirking. Bunny seemed surprised. "Besides! You aren't still mad about that, are you?" Jack added.

"Yes." Bunny grumbled. Jack grinned happily. "But this is about something else." Bunny said, looking down at his weapon. "Fellas." Bunny said, not looking up. Jack was suddenly grabbed from behind, his hood almost falling. He was shoved in a sack and thrown through a portal, landing heavily on the ground.

Jack shoved the sack open angrily, his hood covering his face and shielding his captors from view, so he tugged it down, glaring at the elves that were now in his face. "There he is! Jack Frost!" A loud voice boomed. Jack tugged his hood back up and stood, flipping his staff into his hand with his foot. "Uh, Jack, why don't you put hood down, no?" THe voice boomed. Jack turned away looking at where he was. He was at the North Pole.

"North, not to be rude or anything, but I didn't want to come here in the first place, so I'll keep the hood up." Jack snapped. He turned back to the voice and peaked carefully from under his hood. He saw the Sandman, Bunny, North, and Toothina, the Tooth Fairy. He glared at them all, not that they could see it. "Why am I here? I must have done something REALLY bad to get you all four together." Jack said. "Am I on the naughty list?"

"ON naughty list? You hold the record. But no matter, we over look. Now we are wiping clean the slate." North said, still looking at him nervously.

"Why?" Jack asked bluntly.

"Because now, you are GUARDIAN!" This man was either extremely stupid, or extremely ignorant to that having flaming torches near him was a good idea. Silent as snow, ice crept through the room, coating everything like some kind of invasion. The flames went out and Jack took a deep breath.

"Why would I want to be a Guardian?" Jack scoffed. "Pick someone more qualified." Jack turned to leave.

"Pick! You think we pick? No, you were chosen, like we were all chosen, by Man in Moon." Jack froze at that.

"Moon?" Jack stared up at the orb in the sky. "I have already given him my answer. I will not help that selfish bastard." Jack said indifferently.

"Oi, mate, ya might want ta be more respectful ta the guy that made ya immortal." Bunny growled. "Ya sort of owe him."

"I owe him NOTHING! I never wanted this! Ever since that DAMNED day that I made a stupid mistake he's been trying to kill me. He took everything from me! My last words to my sister were to tell her that she was being a bloody idiot! Then I was dragged back under the ice and made invisible to everyone! If I ever owed him, then I payed it back with the three hundred years with no one but him and the wind to talk to!" Jack said, shoving his hood down so he could fully look at the Bunny in the face. The others gasped at what they saw.

"Do you see why I hide? Why I hate the Moon? He's been trying to destroy my spirit since I was fourteen years old." The others were silent, staring at the icy mask that covered his entire face, making it seem as though he had no expression. "I got a scar on my head when I fell through the ice in place of my sister, and then I got this when the Moon finally got his wish and changed me to THIS! Being able to do nothing but spread snow and hope that I can make a child feel happier than their life is!" Jack said. He glared with steely grey eyes that slowly were changing back to blue as his anger faded. "I won't help him." Jack said, his shoulders slumping. He pulled his hood back up and was about to fly off when Tooth suddenly gasped and grabbed at her chest.

"Pitch! He's attacking my palace!" Tooth said. Jack groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Tooth was a blur that suddenly disappeared out a window.

"Alright, how are we getting there?" Jack said with a groan.

"You'll help us?" North asked.

"Yes, I will help YOU, but not Manny. The children are more important than my anger, so, how are we getting there?" Jack said.

"To the sleigh!" North said. Jack stared at him in horror. He had seen North's driving and was more than a little apprehensive about it.

"Um, yeah, how about I fly-" Jack said.

"Um, I think my tunnels might be faster-" Bunny said at the same time.

"Nonsense! Everyone loves the sleigh!" North said as he grabbed Bunny's scruff and dragged him along. Jack was about to fly off, but Bunny grabbed his hood.

"Not so fast, Frostbite. If I have to ride on the sleigh, then so do ya." Jack was dragged to the sleigh and forced in.

"Buckle up!" North said with a laugh.

"Where are the bloody seatbelts!?" Jack and Bunny shouted together before glaring at each other.

"That was just expression!" North said, and then they were off. Jack found himself enjoying the ride, even if North did drive like a maniac. Jack glared at the man's head, wishing the man would learn how to drive.

They finally came to the Palace, via portal, which Jack decided he hated. He was angry to see all the nightmares taking the teeth and the the mini fairies. Jack jumped up and snatched a mini fairy that was about to be taken and held her in his hands. "You okay, Baby Tooth?" The newly named fairy nodded and Jack sighed in relief. He made an ice sword with one hand and tucked his staff into a holster he made years ago for situations just like this. Ice formed a mask around his face, hiding it from view and protecting it. Then he took to the sky fighting the nightmares like a demon that most thought he was. That even HE thought he was. He slayed half the army before the last of them got away. He had freed hundreds of Tooth Canisters and thousands of fairies, but there were still thousands more trapped. He felt like a failure. He landed a little ways off to the others as cackling laughter echoed through the mostly empty palace.

"The Big Four! I'm a little starstruck!" Pitch mocked. "Got you all together!" The Guardians made little noises of anger, not that Jack really cared. Pitch and the Guardians bantered to each other for a while, then Pitch noticed him. The shade almost looked like he was AFRAID of Jack. Jack smiled beneath his mask. "Is that….Jack Frost?" Pitch said, appearing near him, too close. Jack flinched back a little in surprise, his hood falling. "Why is it… that everytime I see you… you are wearing that mask?" Pitch said, backing up just a tad as Jack raised his sword.

"Well, I like my invisibility. It helps that no one knows the face of the person they want to kill." Jack said, half of his mask dissolving to show a bitter grin. Pitch narrowed his eyes at that.

"Since when are you and the Guardians so chummy?" Pitch spat, trying to regain control of the situation.

"Since when are you an asshole that no one likes?" Jack asked. Pitch looked at him furiously.

"Well, I'm going to ignore you now, but then, you must be used to that, by now." Pitch had just reached the point of no return. Jack swung his sword angrily, nicking the shade on the arm as he fled to his mare and into the shadows below. Jack growled in anger as he saw that Pitch had gotten away. He stared at the mural on the wall, not truly seeing it, but rather searching for the shade. When he found him, he was literally shaking in anger. Pitch had not just crossed the line. He spat on it, dragged it through the mud, and then shoved it in the shredder. Pitch was at Burgess. He was at JACK'S Town!

The other Guardians saw him and were surprised to see him so angry. "Jack! What is the matter?" North asked.

"He. Is. In. Burgess!" Jack said. It was taking all of his self control not to start a blizzard in Asia. The other guardians gasped. No one went into Jack's town without permission. Not even if it happened to be their own holiday. The only person allow to come and go as they pleased was Sandy, but that was because he often worked hand in hand with the dreamweaver.

n

"Jack! How? Don't you have wards?" Tooth asked. Jack shook his.

"Who do you know that is dumb enough to attack my town?" Jack said. The Guardians looked at each other as they realized he was right. No one ever would.

Jack took off with the others close behind him, having trouble keeping up, the only reason they could was the fact that Jack would stop randomly for a few moments, then be gone again, turning up a mile over in a second. Even Bunny wasn't that fast. Jack was practically teleporting! They finally just ended up using a portal to get to Burgess, and Jack STILL beat them! Jack's eyes were glowing blue as he saw the town, searching for nightmares and freezing any he did find. Once satisfied, he landed on the roof of Jamie's house and snuck in, checking on the child. The tiny tooth fairy he had saved before flew out from his hood and darted under Jamie's pillow, placing his tooth in a pouch at her side and replacing it with a coin. Jack sighed in relief and stroked the sleeping child's hair.

Sleeping children were always solid to Jack. That was the one thing that proved to him that he was still alive, somewhere in his hardened heart. The others finally got there and were surprised by the soft look on Jack's face. They approached cautiously, freezing as Jack held a hand to his lips and pointed to the sleeping dog. "Bunny, I suggest you don't wake her up. She's a hunting dog." Bunny gulped and silently stepped back. Jack stared out the window as he heard a whinny. He darted out the window, hunting for the nightmares.

The others, except for Sandy, climbed back into the sleigh. Jack and Sandy chase down a couple of stubborn nightmares. They freeze as Jack finally stops them. He pokes one, just to be sure that it was dead before turning to the shadows.

"You know, I was going to just leave this little feud alone to you and the Guardians, but then you decided to come to MY TOWN!" Jack said to the shadows and Pitch stepped out, smirking.

"But everyone needs fear, Jack. Even you!" Pitch jumped back as Sandy was suddenly next to him. "Now THIS is who I was looking for!" Pitch said. Sandy made sand whips and the two had a little fight before Sandy flung Pitch to the ground below, denting a car or two.

"I'm sorry, Sandy! It was stupid of me to mess with your dreams! So, I'll tell you what. You can have them back." They were suddenly surrounded by black horses, pawing at the ground eagerly. They attack and Sandy dragged Jack into the air, the young man pulling his sword back out and hacking away at the army.

He had just landed on the sleigh, ducking under one of Bunny's boomerangs, when he saw what Pitch was doing. He zipped in front of the closest person he could call a friend, taking the arrow that was meant for him. He flew back a little, but rose back, despite the fact that he was now bleeding heavily.

His eyes were glowing blue, and his skin glowed white. His mask melted and reformed to become a kind of crown on top of his mask. Great white wings grew from his back and he looked in every sense like a guardian angel. "KOZMOTIS PITCHNER! YOU DARE TO COME TO MY HOME, ATTACK MY FRIENDS, AND YOU DARE TO STILL STAND THERE? I WARNED YOU THE FIRST TIME. NO NIGHTMARES SHALL ENTER THIS TOWN WHILE I GUARD IT AND YET YOU BROUGHT THEM HERE. YOU SHALL TASTE THE WRATH OF THE WINTER KING!" Jack's voice seemed to echo around and come from everywhere at once. Jack sent out a great blast of Winter Magic, destroying every nightmare in its path, the Wind protecting the Guardians from it.

When it was done, Jack collapsed, Bunny catching his hoodie as he passed and pulling him back to the others. Jack's wound was already healed, but they were more worried about the amount of magic Jack had just sent out. He came to and shook them off, looking at Sandy carefully, then smiling when he saw that he was fine. It actually kind of scary to see Jack look like that while still looking so fiercesome. Jack looked at himself and scowled, returning to looking like his normal twenty year old self in seconds, hood pulled up once more.

Tooth had a crazy look in her eye as she saw Jack smile. She couldn't stop herself any longer and grabbed his jaw, forcing his mouth and looking at his teeth. Jack stood in shock during this, not moving a muscle. No one had ever dared to do such a thing to him! Finally he gently removed her hands, closing his mouth.

"They really DO sparkle like freshly fallen snow!" Jack stared at her like she was crazy.

"Pitch is not defeated. He'll be more determined than ever now, so I suggest we make Easter really good this year." Jack told them and Bunny stared at him as though his scar was showing. Jack glared at him. "What?"

Are ya lettin' me do Easter in Burgess?" Jack nodded as though he were stupid. They landed on the ground, the reindeer too tired to fly. Bunny grinned and tapped the ground, forming a tunnel beneath them. Jack laughed and skated down the side around the others, who were screaming. Jack floated into the Eternal Spring looking around in awe.

They painted egg after egg after egg, until all of them were gone and painted. Jack advised Bunny to only send half of them out, in case Pitch attacked. It proved to be a good idea to do, especially when Jack began to hear his sister. Pitch appeared with his army, Jack clutching his head as though in physical pain at hearing that voice.

"Ah, I found it! Took me a while, you know, so many teeth canisters to search through." Pitch said, holding onto Jack's canister. The other guardians saw it and gasped, suddenly understanding why Jack seemed to be in pain. "I wonder if I could possibly use this to make you see your greatest fear? Do you remember, Frost? I do. Your sister's fear was so delicious, but then you took it away by saving her, then you had the audacity to get out of there alive!" Pitch tutted, rolling the canister in his hands. "How about we ALL see it?" Pitch said, black sand encasing everyone's eyes.

"Stop it!" Jack shouted, falling to his knees, but the memory was already playing. The world around him faded, replace with one centuries younger.

"Jack! I'm scared!" Emma said.

"I-I know. But it's gonna be okay. You're not going to fall." Jack soothed. "We're going to have a little fun instead."

"No we're NOT!" Emma protested.

"Would I trick you?" Stupid question, Jack.

"Yes, you ALWAYS play tricks!" Emma shouted.

"Well, not this time! I promise!" Jack said. "Hey, wanna play a game? We're gonna play hopscotch, like we play everyday." Jack said. "It's as easy as one!" The ice beneath his feet cracked. "Two!" Solid ice beneath his feet and his staff one step away. "Three." Jack said, picking up the staff. He looked at Emma. "Okay, now your turn. One. Two. Three!" On three, he grabbed his sister with the hook of his staff, but he was now in his place.

Jack stood and smiled at his sister before the ice beneath him giving out, his head striking a jagged shard of ice, almost knocking him out. Jack heard his sister's screams, and instead of panicking like most would, held his breath, even though the freezing water was making him want to gasp in shock. He swam up towards his sister's voice, his head breaking the freezing surface and Jack almost going into shock. He swam unsteadily to the edge, grasping the edge and almost letting go. It was too cold, the ice seeming to burn him. He pulled himself halfway up and winced as the ice cracked.

Once he was finally on solid ice, he wiped his arm across his forehead, gasping as the formerly white sleeve became red with blood. Now that there was no ice on it, the air hit it, making Jack clench his arm to the wound in pain. Emma ran over to him and helped him up, backing away in fear as she saw his head. "J-Jackie! Your head!" Emma began to cry and Jack shushed her, comforting her, even though he was freezing. His clothes and hair were already ice, making it difficult to move. His skin was freezing as well. Jack's vision began to tunnel and fade as Emma screamed and went for help.

Jack gasped as the memory faded. "See, you were meant to DIE! You should never have been able to push back your fear and get back up!" Pitch said, black said wrapping around Jack.

"So, what, this is a grudge?" Jack said. Pitch smiled cruelly and nodded. Then he lifted Jack up and dumped him in the river. Jack struggled to push down his panic, but it was useless. He had nothing to anchor him this time. He tried to open his eyes, but even then all he could see was blackness as nightmare sand formed a blindfold around his eyes. Jack began to panic even more as ice began to form above him, trapping him underneath. Jack's strength began to slowly give out. His body was putting itself in a coma to save energy. He couldn't drown to death, but he could still drown until he was knocked out.

He slowly began to go limp, listening to sounds of fighting above him. Then all was silent. Jack so wanted to move, to get out of the water, but the sand held him under, as well as the weakening of his body. He vaguely heard the breaking of ice and the sand letting go of him and him being pulled out of the water, but his mind seemed to be on slow motion. He laid on the green grass for five minutes before he was able to open his eyes again.

"Is he gone?" Jack asked, cracking an eye open and forcing it to stay that way. The Guardians nodded grimly and Jack saw that the first eggs were completely smashed to bits. Bunny had already sent the second batch out and the belief stayed strong as the children finally found their eggs.

"Jack, how many more times did you fall into that lake while skating? Pitch said that that hadn't been the last time it had happened?" Tooth asked. Jack looked at her.

"Twenty." Jack said softly, his voice hoarse.

"Blimey, Frostbite! Why would ya keep goin' on it if ya knew it was gonna collapse?"

"Because I couldn't help it. It called to me, filled me with the need to skate acrossed it. Every time the freezing would come faster, trying to close the ice before I reached it." Jack said.

Bunny raised his hand to rub some water out of his eyes and froze as Jack flinched. Bunny stood frozen, staring at the young man. Jack Frost, who faced everything head on, who never backed down from anything, had flinched. Jack slowly relaxed again, no one else noticing it. He watch Jack jump a little as Tooth touched his shoulder and when North's booming voice echoed around he curled slightly in on himself.

"Jack, where is Pitch right now?" Bunny suddenly asked. Jack looked at him, then his eyes glowed blue. Bunny tapped his shoulder after a few moments of Jack being immobile. He gasped and tried to pull his arm back as ice encased it. His vision tunnelled and he suddenly was over a big globe with lights on it. It was the Pole. Then it was Tooth Palace. Then it was Burgess. "Oi! What's goin' on!"

"This is how I find things." Jack said, his voice shaky, like he had been on a rollercoaster and had just gotten off after vomiting.

"Oh." Jack said nothing else, just zoomed in his search on a certain house, particularly the black sand entering it. Bunny gasped as he felt the pain of losing a believer, then again and again, all the way up till the sand reached the boy named Jamie's house. Then the vision was gone and Bunny's arm was free.

"We need to get to Burgess!" Jack said, standing. He shakily began flying out of the Warren, then gaining speed and confidence as he went, soon simply appearing to be gone as he flew too fast to be seen over the ocean to Burgess. It was now night, the day over. Jamie was sitting on his bed, holding a toy rabbit.

"I got told in a dream that you weren't real. So, you have to show me RIGHT NOW if that dream was right. Please, I've believed in you my entire life, so you kind of owe me!" When nothing happened, he sighed and let the rabbit fall to the ground. Jack gasped and quickly drew an Easter Egg on the window. Jamie gasped as he saw it. Jack then drew a rabbit and brought it to life, the bunny dancing around Jamie before bursting into snow. One flake coincidentally hit Jamie on the nose.

"Jack Frost!" Jamie said, mouth opened wide as he stared at the spirit. Jack silent for moment before smiling at him.

"Hello Jamie." He said.

"You just made it snow! In my room!" Jamie said.

"I know, and we need your help. Your friends have stopped believing. You're the Last Light of Burgess." Jamie looked horrified. Then he grabbed his coat darted outside, Jack already out there. The Guardians landed the sleigh and filed out, looking tired.

"That's the Easter Bunny? But… I thought he was supposed to be little and cuddly!" Jamie said, hiding slightly behind Jack.

"Yeah, he's a big softie, though." Jack said. Bunny glared at him and was about to say something but was interrupted by an evil laugh.

"All this for one town, for one child, he still refuses to stop believing. But there are other ways to snuff out the light." Pitch said, lights around them bursting, creating more dark and shadows. Jack stood tall and glared at the shade, his hood hiding it. He stepped forward to attack, but was stopped by the hand on his hoodie.

"Jack. I'm scared!" Jamie looked up at him with big brown eyes. Jack bent down to his height. He lower his hood slightly so Jamie could see his eyes through his mask. Jack melter the bottom half of his mask and smiled.

"I know. But you're gonna be fine. We're gonna have a little fun instead." Jack said, forming a snowball in his hand and chucking with uncanny accuracy into Pitch's face. Jamie let out a little choked laugh, as did the other Guardians. Jack already had another snowball at ready. "Now. Let's go get your friends." They spent the next half hour gathering the seven believers together and they stood as one unit, not showing the fear that they felt.

"What. You think a few children can help you defeat THIS?" Pitch sneered, black sand rising like a tidal wave, inching closer to the town.

"Jamie, they're just bad dreams. Besides, I'll protect you." Jack said, smiling and showing the half mask to his believer.

"Oh, you'll protect him? But who will protect you?" Jack laughed.

"You should know by now that I don't care if I die or not. I've faced it enough times that your little tantrum doesn't really affect me. I don't need protection. Just a little belief." Jack said.

"I don't care, either. You hurt my home, and I have a little sister. I stand with Jack." Jamie said, coming to stand beside him. The twins followed, then Pippa, then Monty. Then Cupcake. Jack smiled at them all. You don't mess with Burgess. Jack looked at the Shade carefully.

"So be it." Pitch spat, then the army descended, covering the town. It filled the sky and shot towards Jamie like a spear. Jamie raised his hand, and the moment it struck, it changed to golden dream sand. Jamie laughed and Sandy gave him a thumbs up as he absorbed the sand. Jack ruffled the boy's head fondly, smiling behind his mask. The kid was brave, he'd give him that. Jack turned expectantly to the shade, who's right eye was developing a twitch. "What have you done! How dare you stand against me!"

"You should know better than to ask that, Pitch. Your tantrum means nothing here. You should have left your grudge alone." Jack spat, flying to stand right in front of Pitch. The star general flinched back, scowling.

Then he smiled cruelly at Jack. "Like you left your sister, Emma, alone?" Jack's fury suddenly was gone, replaced by a deadly calm. The sky, if it were possible, began to grow darker as storm clouds began to form overhead. Lightning and thunder shook the sky and rain began to fall heavily, soaking everyone.

"Ye dare bring mine sister up, ye cowardly dag? Ye DARE say her angelic name? Ye are not worthy to do so, even that Moon is not. Ye leave her be, and ye leave mine death out of this!" Jack spat, his old accent coming out heavy enough to be difficult to understand. Pitch looked at him with real fear. Then it turned back to anger and he pulled out a sand dagger and swiped it at Jack's mask. The fragile ice clattered to the ground, coming to a rest at Jamie's feet. He held the broken remains of the ice, even as the rain melted it. Everyone looked up.

Jack's face was facing the ground and his hands were curled into fists. Then the Winter Spirit pulled back his arm and socked the shade in the face, knocking him out cold. Pitch fell to the ground, hitting it hard. Little golden butterflies and birds danced over his head. Jack slowly landed, his face unseeable by his hood. Jack went over to Jamie and lightly touched the mask. It reformed, but it melted almost immediately. Jack fell to his knees with grief. Jamie was looking at him as though he were waiting. Jack slowly lowered his hood.

The mask had covered his entire head, hiding his silver white hair from view. That itself was a shock to see. But what everyone else was surprised to see was that his forehead was marred by a silver crescent moon, it seemed to be burned into his skin along the edges. His face seemed to glow, looking young.

The Guardians were in shock at the man they saw. He was barely out of childhood himself and yet he was wiser and more powerful than they could have ever thought. He couldn't have been older than twenty. "J-Jack… Why do you have a Moon on your forehead?" Jamie asked innocently.

"It was punishment for not dying when I was fourteen like I was supposed to. Plus I kind of yelled at the Moon when I first became a spirit, so he was kind of annoyed with me." Jack said. Jamie smiled and shook his head. Jack noticed that Pitch was now running. Jack looked at the Guardians and they had noticed as well. Jack knew where he was going and he zipped there, the others close behind him. Pitch slammed into North's belly and fell back.

"Leaving party so soon?" North said.

"This is not over! You can't kill fear." Pitch said.

"Well, I am not worried." North said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh really? Then what are they doing here?" Pitch said, smirking a bit now.

"Well, they are not my nightmares, because I am not afraid!" North boomed.

"Looks like it's YOUR fear they smell." Jack said, smiling. As though getting a silent signal the nightmares attacked, dragging Pitch down to who knows where. Jack looked down as he saw the lake beneath him. He hadn't touched this place in three hundred years. He looked at it curiously, as though wondering what would happen if he DID touch it.

He slowly landed on the ice and the Moon shone down on it. He waited for it to break, but instead, it stayed strong, just like it was supposed to. The light rested happily on his head, and for the second time in his life, the Moon spoke to him.

"You see why I did this? You have always been marked by me, since you were born. I made a deal with Death to have you when you died. You stubbornly resisted me every time. Sorry you had to be taught such a hard lesson, but I do know what I am doing, my Guardian." Manny said.

"Jack, do you swear to be a Guardian? To protect them with you life forever until the end of time?" Manny asked.

"I do." Jack said. "But I still won't help you." Jack said, glaring now. A flash of pain, a warning was given.

"Careful, Jackson. Let's not have a repeat of the last three hundred years." Manny said. The next hour was a blur as Jack said goodbye to Jamie, and and sat back on the sleigh, feeling happy for once in his life. He still hated the Moon for what he did, but like he said before, the children were more important than his anger. Or his fear. Or his life. And Jack was just fine with that. He was happy to do so, they were worth so much more than him. Always had been.

Jack spent all of his time making sure his town was safe, but now he also travelled to others, making sure that they were safe as well. He did his job, just like Manny had told him to do all those years ago. Manny smiled as the stubborn man finally completed his destiny.


End file.
